Improvement in horse hay-rakes



inuit-rd Stairs @anni entries.,

Leam Patent N0.'1o3,7s9, man May 31, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE HAY-RAKES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SOLOMON P. SMITH, ot' Water-- ford, in the count-y of Saratoga and State of New York, vhave invented a new and useful Impfovement in Horse'Hay-Rakes and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof,

transverse bar, a., from each end of which depends a pair otbars, bb, between and to which the supporting and carrying-wheel B are secured. The thills C ,are

secured to and project from the inner pendent arms,

and are connected by a cross-bar, D, (to which the foot-rest h is seeured,) in advance of the carryingwheels; they are also ,braced to the pendent bars and tothe cross-bar by inner and outer braces E,as shown in iig. l of the drawing.

The fixed supporting-bar a beingarranged above the carrying-wheels, the diameter ot' the latter must be such as to admit of their being placed beneath the drag-bars of the rake-teeth.

The drag-bars G are carried by a hinged tilting- Vframe, consisting of two parallel bars c c', connected together by transverse bars (l (l, so to form au ob long frame. The rear bar c of this carrying-frame is connected, by strong hinges e, to the horizontai fixed supporting bar a ofthe frame, and its front bar c projects a little in advance of the axis of the carryingwheels.

The drag-bars are hinged to a horizont-a1 rod, H, fitted in eye-bolts or bearings f secured to the front har c', and extend rearward and rest np`on the rear bar c of the tilting frame; and, to their rear ends the. wooden rake-teeth K are iirinly secured and braced in pairs, so as to form an acute angle with their dragbars. The latter are straight, made also of wood, and

maintain an angle to the ground of about forty-tive degrees when the rake is down, an'd, being hinged to the front bar c of the tilting frame, the latter, to maintain such inclination ofthe drag-bars, extends upward and frontward, so asto form an obtuse angle with the pendent bars b, as shown in iig. l of the drawing.

.The angle which .the tilting frame maintains to the teeth, and to the supporting hangers l), is suoli that a line drawn from the i'ront bar of said frame to the points of the teeth will pass between the axis of the wheels and the hinges e of said frame, so that any undue pressure against the teeth, by the accumulation` of the hay, will tend to, lift them by pulling the front of the tilting frame down, so that, when a windrow is gathered, the frame is tilted' and theteeth raised over it without much effort ofthe driver.

Another advantage of this arrangement of the'tilting frame, drag-bars, and carrying-wheel is that, while the toothed ends of the drag-bars4 preponderate sufficiently to keep them to the ground while at work,l it throws the balance of the rake to the front when not in use, and the thills are resting upon the ground, for the purpose of raising and keeping the teeth from. contacttherewith, thus preserving them from rotting; and this ei'ect is obtained whether the teeth and their frame be up or down, because in either position ofthe parts the-pendent bars b will be vertical, and the preponderance of weight transferred to the front of the machine.

The `weight of the drag-bars, in connection with their inclined'position, tends constantly to keep them down to the surt'aqe ofthe ground when raking ,"but

to insure this posit-ion, springs J are attached by one -end to the front bar c of the tilting frame, and by the other'v to the drag-bars, so that their tendency to constantly7 press the-Inter down.

The drag-bars are arranged at suitable distances apart, and, in order to maintain and brace them. in such position, I secure thereto, by means of short crossbars g y, parallel bars I, hinged also to the rod H, and ot' suiiicient length to rest like the drag-bars upon the rear bar c of the tilting frame. These shortseparating bars rest against the adjacent sides of the drag.- bars, and constitute lateral supports to them, while their rear ends, resting upon the hinged bar c of the tilting frame, prevent said drag-bars iioin twisting npon the rod H, and therefore avoids liability to split alty then' hinged ends, which would he the case were it not for the vertical and lateral support aiiorded by the rear ends of' the separating and bracing-bars.

The seat I? for the 'dri-ver and operator is mounted upon two standards e", incliuing rearward, and supported upon the cross-bar D of the thills in front of the tilting frame, so as to admit of the movement of the latter' to elevate and depress the teeth, and bring the seat direct-ly over the front bar Ot their carrying frame. y

An arm, lt, extends frontward from the under side of the seat l), and is connected at its front end to au arm, S, secured to the cross-bar D of the thills, so as to form an acute angle with the standards of the seat. The .rear endof this arln R forms a stop,`i, against which the'front bar c rests, to limit the ascent of the tilting frame and the descent of the teeth, as shown in tig. l.

The tilt-ing frame is connected by a link, M, to the short end o t' an L- shaped lever, N, pivoted at its angle dx to the base of one of the standards of the seat. The handle of this lever extends upward, withcured in 'the arm opposite thc foot-rest j, which supports said lever, and prevents it from passing too far iiontward, and a catch, a, having one of itssides inclined, is secured to this arm next to the seat, for thel purpose of allowing the lever to pass over and be held by it when brought rearward to tilt the frame, thus locking the drag-bars and their teeth when elevated, as shown in dotted lines in the drawing.

rlhis arrangement enables the driver, by his foot, to hold the teeth down when atA work, and to lift them up by the same device, which serves lb'ot-h as a hand and footdever in controlling the tilting frame, thus dispensing with independent devices heretofore used, either to elevate or depress the rake-teeth.

lhe rake-teeth thus hinged and carried may rise independently of each other to pass over hills and obmapeo v For the purposeof insuring 'the discharge of the hay from the teeth, horizontal bars or strippers L are se- V cured to the rear side of the iixed bar a of the frame,

so as to project between. the drag-bars and teeth when the latter are'elevated.

Having described my invention,

claiml. jIn connection with a tilting and carrying frame,

inclining upward and frontward, the elevating-level' 7 N, arranged in' relation to the ixed foot-rest J, as del scribed, so as to perform the functions of a hand and foot-lever to lift and hold up the teeth and to hold them down, as herein shown and described.

2. The arrangement of the single foot andhand L- shapcd lever N, the fixed foot-rest j, the stops c' and n, the link M, the inclined hinged tilting' and carrying frame, and seat P, as herein shown and described.

' SOLOMON P. SMITH.

lWitnesses: v

A. H. WRAY, J. J. HEFFERNAN. 

